Information Centric Networks (hereinafter, “ICN”) have been proposed as an alternative approach to a computer network architecture. ICNs are designed around the principle that a user should be allowed to focus on the content to be retrieved, not on the physical location of the content.
An ICN can allow for the retrieval of content from content servers based on the name of the content. For example, a request for content can be passed up a chain of routers until the request is received by a content server that stores the content. The content server can send the content back to the user using the same path as the request. Additionally, the routers along the path between the requestor and the content server can cache the content for future requests. Accordingly, future requestors following parts of the same path will be able to retrieve the cached content and avoid transmission delays.
However, the universal caching mechanism in an ICN poses a privacy risk. In particular, the time difference between data response for cached data and uncached data can be used to infer whether a near-by user has previously requested the same content.
Accordingly, ICN technologies may benefit from techniques for protecting access privacy of cached content.